Nutrition services for pregnant adolescents within a public high school.

PIP: The St. Paul Maternal and Infant Care Project (MIC) was begun in 1973 in response to the recognition that pregnant adolescents were medically, nutritionally, and socially at risk. The program provides prenatal care as well as adolescent health care and drug screening. It operates within 3 inner city public high schools and has a strong educational component for parents and for infants and children. Funds come from state-allocated Title V Maternal and Child Health funds, Title XIX EPSDT funds, and grants from the Minnesota Community Health Services Act and the St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital Medical Education and Research Foundation. Title XX monies are used to support the day care component. In-kind contributions from the St. Paul Schools provide physical facilities for the school health clinics and the day care center. Since implementation, the program has secured a 50% reduction in school fertility rates, there have been fewer obstetric complications, and a lower incidence of low-birth-weight infants compared with adolescents served by the MIC Project in non-school clinics. 85% have completed high school. The article then describes the nutritional problems of pregnant adolescents and the measures taken to deal with these.^ieng